1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the mechanical packaging of electronic assemblies, and more specifically to the use of an integrated backplane into which are plugged both logic boards and power supplies.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Electronic systems, particularly data processing systems, are packaged by having a separate logic backplane having connections mounted in the backplane with selected connector pins coupled together by a copper etch on the surface of the backplane. Separate power supplies are mounted elsewhere in the cabinet and connected to the logic backplane with heavy copper cable which carry high current-low voltage. Also, signal lines between the power supplies and the logic require separate multiconductor cables. This prior art system usually requires a protective enclosure for all power supplies.
Another disadvantage of the prior art design is that power supplies cannot be parallelled for power sharing due to the requirement for multiple sensing. Multiple sensing requires that the power supplies provide control signals to each other as well as to the logic to provide for balanced loading of the power supplies.
The long wire runs add to the electromagnetic interference and radio frequency interference signals.